Kite Pharma, Inc. Posted November 2, 2026

Research Scientist I, Attribute Sciences Computational Biology, AI & Scientific Informatics

Santa Monica, United States Full time
Notify me about similar jobs

Kite Pharma, Inc. is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

We’re here for one reason and one reason only – to cure cancer. Every moment is dedicated to developing treatments and every action moves us one step closer to our goal. We’ve made incredible scientific breakthroughs and our pioneering personalized CAR T-cell therapies have changed the paradigm. But we're not finished yet.

Join Kite, as we make even bigger advances in cancer therapies, and help shape where our business and medical science goes next.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfill their aspirations. Join Kite and help create more tomorrows.

Job Description

The Research Scientist I, Attribute Sciences Computational Biology, AI & Scientific Informatics will be responsible for accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence, agentic workflows, and advanced analytics across Analytical Development. This role will combine expertise in biological sciences, bioinformatics, data science, and generative AI to build AI-powered tools that improve scientific productivity, knowledge management, data accessibility, and decision-making to guide process development and product knowledge of viral vector-based gene delivery platforms and T cell therapies. In this role, the research scientist will partner closely with Process Development, Analytical Development, Manufacturing Sciences, Digital/IT, and Data Science teams to develop AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, workflow automations, and predictive models that leverage laboratory, process, and knowledge-management data. Ideal candidates would possess strong communications skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, curiosity about emerging AI capabilities, ability to understand scientific workflows and needs and translate those into working products, and software/programming skills sufficient to independently build and deploy AI and data science solutions.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

AI Agent Development:

Design and deploy Copilot, Copilot Studio, or similar AI agents supporting scientific workflows.

Develop RAG-based knowledge assistants that integrate information from various enterprise knowledge sources.

Create agents that: answer scientific questions, retrieve and summarize technical information, generate draft reports, support investigations, assist with study planning and scheduling, support operational excellence.

Evaluate AI tool accuracy, groundedness, hallucination rates, performance and citation quality.

Bioinformatics & Scientific Computing

Analyze multi-modal biological datasets including NGS, omics, vector characterization, cell therapy process data.

Develop pipelines for automated data processing and visualization.

Knowledge Management and Automation

Support digital transformation initiatives involving electronic lab notebook and data lake infrastructure.

Automate repetitive scientific workflows and documentation tasks.

Build solutions that improve data discoverability and scientific knowledge reuse.

Cross-functional Collaboration

Work directly with scientists, IT and digital teams to identify opportunities where AI can improve productivity.

Translate scientific business problems into technical AI solutions.

Train stakeholders on effective use of AI tools and prompt engineering techniques.

Applied Data Science

Build predictive and descriptive models supporting process development and manufacturing.

Develop statistical tools for identifying relationships between process parameters and manufacturing outcomes.

Design dashboards and decision-support systems.

Basic Qualifications

Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Data Science, Computer Science or related discipline OR

Masters' Degree and 4+ years experience; OR

Bachelor's Degree and 6+ years experience; OR

Associates Degree and 8+ years experience; OR

High School Degree and 10+year experience

Preferred Qualifications

3+ years of experience in AI, including experience with LLMs, vector databases, agentic frameworks, prompt engineering, and evaluation frameworks.

Knowledge of advanced statistical techniques/concepts and proficiency in statistical computer languages (i.e. R, Python, SQL) to analyze data and draw insights from large data sets.

Knowledge of cell biology, cancer biology, and/or immunology.

Experience performing bioinformatics (NGS analysis) and/or data analytics with high dimensional data to drive business solutions.

Experience with machine learning, statistical modeling, experimental design and data visualization.

Ability to think critically and demonstrate troubleshooting and problem-solving skills

Highly collaborative with excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills

Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and willing to accept temporary responsibilities outside of initial job description

Comfortable in a dynamic, fast-paced environment

The salary range for this position is: $133,195.00 - $172,370.00. Kite considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

Kite is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies with a goal of providing rapid, long-term durable response and eliminating the burden of chronic care. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell therapies designed to empower the immune system's ability to recognize and kill tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite, please visit www.kitepharma.com . Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kitepharma .

For jobs in the United States:

Kite Pharma is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex , age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact  ApplicantAccommodations@gilead.com for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the  'Know Your Rights' poster.

NOTICE: EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT

Kite Pharma will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the  legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.

Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the individuals who make up our growing team.

Kite Pharma provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion.

For Current Kite Pharma Employees and Contractors:

Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Santa Monica, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 913 comparable Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 88 biopharma companies.

913Comparable roles tracked
843Currently active
88Companies hiring similar roles
32Countries represented

Salary context

357 of 913 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject $133,195/yr – $172,370/yr
Highest disclosed · Vice President, Therapeutics Immunology · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $0 – $381,150 (median $155,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 913 comparable roles

United States625
China44
Germany36
Switzerland31
United Kingdom29
France28

+ 26 more countries

Seniority mix

660 of 913 peers have a known seniority level

Senior222
Principal146
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc72
Director63
Associate58
Associate Director33
Manager27
Senior Director24
Executive/VP15

Therapeutic area mix

119 of 913 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology49
Oncology38
Neuroscience16
Cardiovascular / CVRM9
Respiratory3
Rare Disease2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

40%similar
AstraZeneca Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Executive/VP
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
Same function Same country
40%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
Same function Same country
40%similar
Roche Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
Same function Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

40%
Executive Director, Global Product Lead, Immunology Research and Development
AstraZeneca · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America · Executive/VP
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Scientist Mass Spectrometrist
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company · Groton, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Principal Research Scientist Engineering
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Principal Scientist I, Biologics Analytical Research and Development
AbbVie · San Francisco, CA · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.